Occupational Health & Safety: Jirah Construction Services Ltd. to pay $100,000 after worker's death

Edmonton... Jirah Construction Services Ltd. has been fined $5,000, plus a $10,000 victim fine surcharge, by a provincial judge in Red Deer after being found guilty of failing to ensure the health and safety of a worker under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. An order was granted for the company to allocate an additional $85,000 to the Alberta Construction Safety Association or a comparable, recognized, or accredited construction safety association. The fine results from an Alberta Human Resources and Employment investigation into a July 24, 2002 incident in Red Deer, where an employee of Jirah Construction Services Ltd. sustained fatal injuries from a fall. In August the supplier, W.S. Building Products Ltd., was fined $5,000 and instructed to allocate an additional $45,000 to community charitable foundations. For more information on workplace health and safety in Alberta call toll free.

Motivation: Unmotivated employees could cost you your business.

Must you be a naturally gifted, charismatic leader to inspire your employees to give their all on the job? Truly inspired workers will do that for you regardless of how much charm you have. The bad news is, when employees aren't inspired, you're losing money.

Inspiration Points

Be thankful for what you have.

50 Jobs Worse Than Yours

The world's worst occupation in 2004 is probably body-double for Saddam Hussein. But there are other jobs nearly as bad--how about junk-food mascot? For readers grinding away in a nine-to-five rut, or as a gift to console a McJob wage-slave, here's a book designed to make everyone grateful for the jobs they don't have to do. Filled with photos and snazzy bullet-points, this well-designed book is as slick as a polished Powerpoint presentation. All the nasty little details are included to create a perfect parody of those other business books. Fifty Jobs Worse than Yours will be found in staff washrooms across the land.

Some H.R. Links

Benefits BuzzBenefits Buzz scans the Web for you to find links to useful articles on employee benefit plan compliance matters — we publish these on a page we call “Benefits Buzz.” FairMeasures eNewsWelcome to our eNews on employment law! These articles are published monthly by the attorneys at Fair Measures. FindLaw Legal NewsFindLaw Legal News provides up-to-the-minutes news in areas such as labor and employment law, business, technology, international, and U.S. law. The whole Web site is a great resource for general legal issues. HR IssuesCareerJournal.com is the Internet’s premier free site for executives. Content comes from the powerful editorial resources of The Wall Street Journal published by Dow Jones & Co., as well as from the CareerJournal.com editorial team. Content includes daily updates of critical news, features and trends that are relevant, whether you’re searching for a new position or striving to improve the job you have. HR NewsHR News, from the Society for Human Resource Management, provides daily updates on issues of importance to the HR professional. These include court decisions, pending legislation, and so on. Office.comWelcome to Office.com, the first stop on the Web for small business. Legal.com NewsLegal.com News provides breaking news daily from a variety of sources. A review of recent news stories suggests more than half the news highlighted relates directly to the interests of the HR professional. News from Pro2NetThe SmartPros daily news roundup for Human Resources professionals. WorkIndex HR NewsWorkindex.com is your link to the world’s most comprehensive index of workplace-related Web sites, HR tools and information. The site is produced and maintained by the publishers of “Human Resource Executive”, in cooperation with Cornell University’s School of Industrial Labor Relations.

Human Resource Management Articles

A list of Human Resource Management Articles from Thinking Managers, an Edward de Bono and Robert Heller web site.

New benefits, expanded occupational training and safer workplaces highlight Human Resources and Employment's 2003-04 Annual Report

Edmonton... New benefits, better employment and occupational training, and safer workplaces were some of the key achievements of the Ministry of Human Resources and Employment last year as highlighted in the ministry's annual report.

"We invested over one billion dollars last year to introduce and deliver programs that helped Albertans become more self-sufficient and ensure Alberta's workplaces were safer," said Alberta Human Resources and Employment Minister Clint Dunford.

The Ministry oversees the Department of Alberta Human Resources and Employment (AHRE), the Personnel Administration Office (PAO), the Alberta Labour Relations Board (ALRB), the Appeals Commission for Alberta Workers' Compensation (AC), and has legislative responsibility for the Workers' Compensation Board-Alberta (WCB).

The Department of AHRE's accomplishments in 2003-04 include:

• a provincial workplace injury rate of 2.9, the lowest in more than 10 years. This means about 6,400 fewer people were injured on the job, and employers saved over $95 million in WCB claims costs
• the revised OHS Code, which provides up-to-date rules and technical standards that require employers and workers to ensure their environments are safe and healthy
• the industry-driven Mentorship Program, which pairs good health/safety performers with employers needing help to make safer workplaces
• 99.3 per cent of expired collective agreements settled without a work stoppage, helping Alberta to have the second most stable labour relations climate in Canada
• the Income and Employment Supports Act, which helps people move from income support to the work force by integrating social and labour market legislation, and replaces seven pieces of legislation, including the 34-year old Social Development Act
• the introduction of Alberta Works - a blended approach to helping people through job-search assistance, training, income support, health benefits or child support services.
• more part-time and occupational focused training
• extended Alberta Adult Health Benefits to AISH and Income Support clients receiving the Handicap Benefit who left supports due to an increase in Canada Pension Plan Disability benefits
• new benefits for people fleeing family violence and the extension of benefits to Learners
• a $20 rate increase to some recipients of Income Support

Last year more than 88,000 people attended career counselling sessions, more than 330,000 callers received information about careers and workplaces from ministry contact centres, more than 1.6 million people visited Labour Market Information Centres across the province, and there were more

than 1.75 million visits to the Alberta Learning Information Service (ALIS) website. As well, medical benefits were provided to more than 66,000 children in low-income families.

The Personnel Administration Office (PAO), the central human resources agency for the Alberta public service, continued to lead the implementation of the Corporate Human Resource Development Strategy, a cross-ministry initiative. Achievements this year include:

• building leadership capacity by offering developmental programs to employees
• attracting talent through the use of work experience, co-op, internships and the Ambassadors' Program and retaining talent by focussing on a positive and productive work environment
• continuing a focus on performance management and human resource planning
• initiating workplace health initiatives, such as the HealthyU@Work website and the coordination of the annual cross-ministry flu vaccinations

The Alberta Labour Relations Board (ALRB) is an independent tribunal responsible for the application and interpretation of Alberta's labour laws. The Labour Relations (Regional Health Authorities Restructuring) Amendment Act, 2003 was last year's main highlight. The Act mandated the Board to initiate and complete processes designed to resolve the union determination and collective agreement issues associated with the amalgamation of the Regional Health Authorities from 17 to nine.

The Appeals Commission for Alberta Workers' Compensation (AC) joined the Ministry of Human Resources and Employment in September 2002, and now functions completely independently from the WCB, ensuring a more open, transparent and accountable appeal system.

For a copy of the 2003/04 Human Resources and Employment Annual Report, please call (780) 427-5585, toll-free by first dialing 310-0000, or access the report online at http://www.gov.ab.ca/hre/publications.htm.